on the broadcast tonight, the disaster in japan. people are being ordered to seal themselves in their homes after a radiation leak. and new problems at more reactors. tonight the americans who are buying medicine based on fear. and the continuing suffering on day five since the disaster. our coverage begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television tonight japan is dealing with a full scale tragedy, while also trying to contain a full scale nuclear emergency.

the release of radiation has prompted a major evacuation. and the people across japan are being told to seal themselves? their homes. tonight we have the latest for you on the disaster in japan. the number of confirmed dead just over 3,000. and the missing now standing at close to 7,000. both expected to go much higher. half a million people have been evacuated. almost that number are in shelters. there are still huge shortages of food, fuel, water and shelter. about that radiation leak and the effort to avert an all out meltdown. 70,000 people have been evacuated. 140,000 have been told again to stay in their homes. tonight a handful of very brave nuclear workers are trying to prevent a further disaster, knowing they may pay with their lives. it's where we begin tonight with our chief science correspondent robert bazell in tokyo. bob, good evening. >> reporter: the nuclear danger here remains ominous.

now a second fire is burning. this has already become the worst reactor accident since chernobyl in 1986. >> right, right, right. >> reporter: a fright thing scene just outside the evacuation zone. workers decontaminating residents with a new sense of urgency. satellite photos of the crippled reactor show much of the damage. explosions at numbers one and three destroyed outside buildings. there's no obvious damage to number two, the reactor with the most severe problem a crack in the containment dome that's allowing radiation to leak out p.. and unit four, radiation is being released from spent fuel rods like these. >> since the spent fuel accident, it would be worthy of massive worldwide concern, and we had that on top of three actually reactors that are having core damage going on.

it's a very, very bad situation. >> reporter: japan's prime minister urged calm and said there was no evidence the amount of radiation released so far threatened anyone outside the evacuation zoern. the one bit of encouraging news from the government, the radiation levels have been dropping in recent levels. ground level winds had been blowing to the east out to sea. but in the past few hours, they shifted south in the direction of tokyo, where officials say radiation levels have been elevated but not dangerous. the company that runs the reactors ordered all but the most essential personnel to leave the site and offered public apology. >> translator: this is a very poor scenario, very bad scenario. >> reporter: one big challenge, because there are only 70 or so workers at the site, reactor problems occur one after another. those workers who volunteered to stay are facing radiation danger now. many could have gotten very high levels. >> they are already being

exposed to levels of radiation that are life threatening and will in some cases be fatal. >> reporter: many see those workers as great heroes. some lost their homes and families in the earthquake and tsunami. they continue at great risk to themselves to try to prevent another catastrophe in this country. brian? >> bob bazell starting us off in tokyo tonight. thanks. this nuclear crisis just one prong of what japan is dealing with. this is just day five since the 9.0 earthquake, the fifth largest in recorded history. and the tsunami that followed. japan is about 10% smaller than california. this graphic shows the area of the country affected by moderate to severe shaking in the quake. here's the surface area we believe that was covered by water in the tsunami. the recovery hasn't even started in some places, where it's just

rubble. the suffering goes on daily, and then the earth shook again violently today. lester holt is in yamagata, good evening. >> reporter: we've chosen to give a wider birth around the plant, which is why we are now in the mountains west of sendai. with each bit of troubling news from the nuclear plant, the anxiety and fear ratchets up across this region. many fear they are not getting the straight truth about the danger they face. in a region still reeling from the horror people can see. it's the one they can't see, radiation that now has some foreigners racing to leave japan. >> the tsunami in the middle of japan or tokyo -- it's bad. the radiation, you cannot escape, you cannot see. >> reporter: in the streets of tokyo, where face masks are warn to prevent the spread of germs.

patience is wearing thin. >> nobody knows the truth of what's happening and what's the effect. >> reporter: tens of thousands have been evacuated from the exclusion zone, which now includes a no fly zone for commercial flights. close to the quake epicenter in sendai, i met japanese families too afraid of after shocks to return to their homes and at times too afraid to stand outside. >> why are you going to your car right now? straunz because i heard that the rain is radio active and if it touches your skin, i will get some kind of skin disease. >> reporter: all of this compounding the terror of quake and tsunami survivors already pushed to the brink. at a shelter, people work the phones still trying to connect with loved ones feared lost. there were more bodies pulled from the debris along the coast today. families still crying out, desperately searching for

missing loved ones. >> hello. >> reporter: it's not just the survivors who are overwhelmed by what has happened here. >> you wonder how the local people live here are to recover from it. >> reporter: there are still occasional voices from the rubble. people don't die easily this rescuer says, that's why we are still here. for all they have lost, the people of japan have not lost hope. we can tell you that china has become the first country to organize mass evacuations of their citizens from northeast japan. the u.s. and many other countries continue to advise their citizens against nonessential travel to this country. >> lester holt, thanks. we have more now on the fears about the radiation leaking out of the damaged nuclear plant. a big part of the story, and the fear is the weather specifically, where and how the winds are blowing. these concerns are two fold.

number one, surface winds, which could be very bad news in japan. number two, upper level winds coming across the pacific as they do every day toward the u.s. west coast. brian norcross is at the weather channel standing by with all of it, brian, good evening. >> first of all, the surface winds did switch as bob bazell said from the north today, that would be in the direction of tokyo. the good news is, it's going to switch quickly to come out of the northwest, that's going to push this plume offshore. really, the amounts of concentration that would move very far from the plant do not look to be a concern here at all. going on into the weekend, the pattern gets very light, and we don't think in that case that anything would leave the general area of the plant. so for the next several days, no problem as far as the surface winds. as far as the upper level winds go, don't think that's going to be a problem at all, because this stuff that's ejected so far is not going very high in the

atmosphere. >> we've seen precipitation in the background of a lot of our correspondents reporting today, snow, rain. what does that do when there's radiation in the air? apparently we have lost communications with brian norcross at the weather channel. we'll catch you later if we can. professor frank von hipple is a physicist. his an also of what happened in japan is way past three mile island already. he's been kind enough to join us tonight in our studios. thank you very much for being here. i hesitate to this, but i have to. how much worse could this get at this one sfacility in japan. >> it could potentially approach a chernobyl type situation. i think the releases from the reactors probably won't approach

that scale. chernobyl was all basically blown out in the atmosphere. here it's 99% of it is perhaps been absorbed in the water, in the basements of these reactors. the big new concern is the fire in unit number four. this is a unit that was not operating. the concern is not with the reactor but the spent fuel pool on its roof. it probably has a couple reactor cores worth of fuel in it, and unless that fuel is covered, it too will on a slower time scale heat up and could in fact catch on fire and generate hydrogen. that may be what we're seeing. when you -- i did some calculations, i didn't expect this to happen so soon. but it is essential that that spent fuel be covered with water, and they haven't been paying attention. >> is this a localized

regionalized problem, god forbid for the people of japan. or as a larger global environmental problem? >> it's a regional problem. there will be smaller -- if there were a chernobyl type release, there will be small doses out to hundreds of miles and some statistically, there may be increase in cancers, but not -- i mean, statistically, not visible. >> all right. that's exactly, professor, what we're going to cover in this next segment, which is why we thank you for your counsel to us all day long here. and joining us here tonight. throughout the day we've been hearing people on the american west coast have been buying up iodine tablets, designed to prevent cancer upon exposure to radiation. people shouldn't just be taking these tablets, the u.s. surgeon general got into this and said, it's a good idea to be prepared

and to potentially save lives. those comments were amended but we'll begin our reporting on this aspect of the story with nbc's kristen welker in southern california. >> reporter: an empty shelf is all that's left after potassium iodine pills sell out. >> this is not a normal thing, really. we can probably sell, i would say, maybe one, two, maybe four a day. but getting people asking for cases is unbelievable. >> reporter: the pills used to protect the thyroid from the effects of radiation are in high demand. >> i'm concerned if my health is in jeopardy. >> reporter: even the u.s. surgeon general said it's a good idea. >> it's definitely appropriate, we have to be prepared. >> reporter: she wouldn't recommend that anyone go out and purchase potassium iodine for themselves at this time. one drugstore retailer claims he

sold half his supply of tablets over the weekend to households on the west coast. >> the average consumer really would not be able to interpret what the geiger counter readings meant. >> reporter: with the west coast more than 5,000 miles from japan, nuclear experts say it is extremely unlikely we would suffer any radioactive effects here. still, technicians in southern california, test the air for radiation twice a week. >> it's just a geiger counter. >> reporter: federal agencies are monitoring the situation closely. >> just keeping a close eye on it, because that's what we do. we don't see any reason to be concerned in california at this point. >> reporter: despite efforts to reassure americans, the barrage of terrifying images coming out of japan continues to fuel fears on america's shores. kristen welker, nbc news, los angeles. and now a reality check from

our own chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman. i hold in my hand the pills we've been talking about. we have a run on these, despite a bunch of physicians telling people, don't take these just to take them. they're for exposure. >> i would urge every american who has bought them today to think about the money being spent better giving it to the japanese people. it gets into the thyroid gland, blocks the bad radiation and prevents thyroid cancer later on. that's what it's intended for, not after the fact. the concern is based on what you heard on this program. this radiation is not going to get to the california shore. it's not going to be necessary for people to take this. the concern right now is for those people in japan who are in the heart of it, who may be faced with radiation sickness. and those symptoms are the kinds of things we should worry about.

nausea, vomiting, exhaustion, hair loss, skin cancers and a lot of those people you talked about earlier, they're really putting themselves in harm's way. >> i think we made that point clearly after some confusion earlier in the day. dr. nancy snyderman, thank you very much. we're back with more on the disaster in japan in a moment. including a big role for the u.s. military now in japan helping them recover from this crisis. and later, the resiliency we've seen on display in that nation. ann curry reports on people who have lost just about everything in the world thinking about other people first. ok, allie's spelling bee is monday... sounds like a mini-wheats day to me! and becka's science fair is on the 8th. she's presenting the solar system. hey, i've got just the wholegrain fiber to keep her full so she can stay focused. um, you rock. she'll be ready to rock. [ female announcer ] make your kids big days,

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gathering forces to help the country cope with this disaster. our report from nbc's ian williams. >> reporter: u.s. plans for a massive relief operation have also been overshadowed by japan's escalating nuclear crisis. >> i know they're looking at several different options. something closer but not too close to obviously what's going on with the reactor plants. >> reporter: marines are looking to set up a forward base at yamagata. that needs japan's agreement. today they were still negotiating over the size and scope of the operation. >> we're ready to assist in anyway possible. >> what kind of stuff could you bring in? >> search and rescue, food and supplies. >> reporter: hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes along japan's devastating northeast coast. japanese officials have told us they face a critical shortage of water, blankets and medicine. the u.s. has already conducted helicopter mission as long the

battered coastline, finding isolated communities of survivors. >> we found essentially hundreds of people. 100 at this place, 200 at this place, 300 at this place. it's just a matter of getting them out. >> reporter: the message from the u.s. side is that they are ready to go, to bring in a massive amount of assistance. just as soon as they get the green light from japan. a key role will be played by the aircraft carrier uss ronald reagan. she was forced to reposition this week. the u.s. has had a huge presence in japan since the end of the war, but never with a mission quite like this. we're back in a moment with some of the other day's news. inside the 2011 dodge journey is an 8.4-inch touch screen that lets you control the stereo volume, radio tuning,

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the secretary quietly met with a high ranking opposition leader in paris last night to talk about whether the u.s. can offer any support in the battle with gadhafi at this late date. clinton also called the saudis to express deep concern about their sending troops into bahrain to crush the rebellion there. news intersecretaried with wall street today. it was a scary morning with the dow tumbling more than 300 points at the open. but then a rebound. japan's nikkei index had a worse day. the nuclear fears spread to the trading floor. at one point the market was down a staggering 14% of all its value. closed down 10% at the end. it's down 16% in just two open trading days. when we come back here tonight. we'll hear from ann curry about the lessons in resilience she has witnesses.

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comes from nbc's ann curry. >> reporter: home from the evacuation center for the first time today. tatso and his wife were shocked so much was ruined, first by the earthquake. and then by five feet of water. but they didn't wait for outside help. she says everyone is the same p fp. he adds, i want to get this work over so i can help others. five days into this disaster, a spirit of self-ref lie answer is evident everywhere. helping augment the short water supply, neighbors boil snow they trucked down from nearby mountains. they make chop sticks by hand using bamboo they gather themselves, making even cups and bowls. for people who have lost

everything, at this evacuation center -- what do you not have enough of to take care of these people? they need food, heat and doctors. balls of rice are brought in by local women. and the elderly who run out of medicines are closely watched over and kept warm. rarely has a nation so powerful been this vulnerable. [ sobbing ] >> reporter: having lost so much, japan appears as broken as its landscape. but it is not. this couple says we are old, but we expect the next generation will build us back even better. ann curry, nbc news in japan. >> and one more reminder for those americans who wish to help, we've put a number of charities on our website tonight at nightly.msnbc.com.

that's our broadcast for this tuesday night. thank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams, and we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com to be your lawfully wedded wife? [ beep ] ♪ ♪ [ beep ] [ whirring ] [ sighs ]